zucchini caserole

I came across a fabulous zucchini recipe from my mother in law, but of course I have to do adjusting to my perfection. Lol.
The ingredients you will need can be adjusted to your size family.  I have a very hungry husband and a picky almost 3 year old.  We use one large green zucchini and two small straight neck yellow squash. By large I mean about 8 inches and small five to six inches.  You will need some kind of cream of something soup.  I use mushroom.  A cup of sour cream, I use fat free,  and a cup bread croutons.  2 tablespoons butter.  A white onion and salt and pepper to taste. I also sometimes throw in some frozen corn and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese on top depending on what we are having with it, which is usually chicken or fish so I add it all.  I cut my veggies in cubes, bite size, finally chop my onions.  You just mix all ingredients together and cook at 350° for about 30 min then sprinkle with the cheese and cook 15 more.  If you omit the cheese just cook a total of 45 min.

I am still trying to figure out how to make my cream of soups myself to leave out all the additives, and taste good, so for now I still use the cans.  I use my frozen corn from the garden and fresh squash. If you are using your frozen squash you won't need to cook as long and add half a cup more croutons, which I make from scratch.  I get whole baker loaves of wheat bread from sam's  club and freeze it.  When I need croutons I get it out and cube it and bake with evoo, salt, and pepper til crisp and let cool completely.  ENJOY

self pollinating your garden

Here is a picture of a male and female flower.  I am having to self pollinate this year due to the lack of bees.  You can see how the female has a small ovary or fruit on its stem.

Here is what the inside of the male flower looks like.  I remove all the petals to expose the stamen which holds the pollen.

Here I rub the inside of the female.  You can see the stamen is not straight for the female it is curly.  I do this in early morning because that is when the flowers are open.

I have had extreme success and am freezing about twenty today!  Good luck :)

healthy chicken salad

I would like to share a fantastic healthy chicken salad that me and my 2 year old girl just love.  You shred cooked chicken with a smashed avocado and mix well.  Add red onion or green with salt pepper and cilantro to your tasting.  I use red onions and a splash of garlic powder...yum!  Wheat crackers on the side are perfect.